Categories & Qualifications

Professional Engineer or Geoscientist

Full membership in PEGNL is granted to any applicant who meets the requirements for admission as stipulated in this document and has paid the appropriate dues and fees. There are two categories of full membership: engineering and geoscience. A person who is qualified to practise engineering as defined by the Engineers and Geoscientists Act, 2008 (the "Act") is designated a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.), and a person who is qualified to practise geoscience as defined by the Act is designated a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.).

Permit to Practice

Section 18(1) of the Act requires that a professional member not offer or provide professional services to the public unless the professional member has a permit under Section 12 of the Act.

Permits to Practice are issued to sole proprietorships, partnerships or other associations of persons, and to corporations to offer professional services in its own name if it is satisfactorily demonstrated that the practice will be carried out by professional members who will be in responsible charge.

Honorary and Life Membership

Honorary Membership in PEGNL may be granted by the PEGNL Board of Directors to a uniquely distinguished person who is not a member of PEGNL.

Life Membership in PEGNL will be granted to any member upon request who has been a member of PEGNL for at least twenty years, who is at least sixty years of age and retired from professional practice.

Members-in-Training

An applicant who meets the academic requirements for registration but has not yet met the other requirements for registration as a professional engineer or professional geoscientist may be registered as a Member-in-Training (MIT) in one of two categories, Engineer-in-Training or Geoscientist-in-Training.

Limited License

A limited license to practice engineering or geoscience enables limited licensees to practice engineering or geoscience in a personally specified limited area of practice. The specified area of practice is proposed by the applicant and reviewed under the purview of the Registration Committee where it may be revised to ensure that it is within the capabilities of the applicant. The applicant’s proposed limited scope is to be supported by the applicant’s professional engineer or professional geoscience supervisors and/or references. The limited scope is different from the scopes of other professional members. Professional Engineer and Professional Geoscience members’ scopes are very much left to the responsibility of those members to self-limit within their capabilities.

A limited license to practice engineering or geoscience enables limited licensees to practice engineering or geoscience in a personally specified limited area of practice. The specified area of practice is proposed by the applicant and reviewed under the purview of the Registration Committee where it may be revised to ensure that it is within the capabilities of the applicant. The applicant’s proposed limited scope is to be supported by the applicant’s professional engineer or professional geoscience supervisors and/or references. The limited scope is different from the scopes of other professional members. Professional Engineer and Professional Geoscience members’ scopes are very much left to the responsibility of those members to self-limit within their capabilities. A limited licensee would be entitled to call themselves a “professional member in the practice of engineering – limited license”, “a professional member in the practice of geosciences – limited license”, and use the designation “Eng. L.” or “Geo. L.” and to have a limited licensee stamp. The person would not be permitted to call themselves a “professional engineer” or “professional geoscientist” or to use the designations “P. Eng.” or “P. Geo.”

A limited license will also enable a limited licensee to be in responsible charge on a Permit to Practice. Within the permit where the limited licensee is in responsible charge, the specific area of responsible charge will be the limited scope of the limited licensee.

Qualifications

Professional Engineer or Geoscientist

To be eligible for registration as a professional member, an applicant shall, in addition to any other requirements of the Act, 2008, the Regulations, 2011, and the By-Laws:

have knowledge of the Act, Regulations and By-Laws, satisfactory to the Registration Committee;

have communication abilities in the English language satisfactory to the Registration Committee or its Executive Committee as demonstrating the ability to competently practise engineering or geoscience in Newfoundland and Labrador. Where an applicant’s first language is not English, s/he will be expected to demonstrate proficiency in spoken and written English through testing or other means prescribed by PEGNL. Such applicants who have already passed examinations in TOFEL or CanTest should provide results upon application. IELTS Exam Preparation Workshops ;

have general knowledge of the practice of the professions demonstrated by successfully completing the national professional practice and ethics examination or by such other means as the Registration Committee or its Executive Committee may require; (see PPE Exam section of this website)

be of good character; and

satisfy all academic and experience requirements.

Under the federal government’s Agreement on Internal Trade, any Professional Engineer or Professional Geoscientist registered in one jurisdiction who applies for registration with another jurisdiction, shall be accepted provided that the applicant is a in good standing in the home jurisdiction.

An applicant may be registered as a member-in-training, if the person has met the academic qualifications for registration but has not yet fulfilled other requirements for registration as a professional engineer or professional geoscientist.

In recognition of the variations in the nature of engineering and geoscience internship programs and requirements throughout Canada, it may be beneficial for those MIT’s who have completed part of an internship in another province/territory in Canada to complete their internship in that jurisdiction. Upon registration as a professional, the person must immediately apply for licensure in the jurisdiction in which he/she is working.

Permits to Practice are issued in accordance with the provisions of the Engineers and Geoscientists Act, 2008. The following further defines the criteria used by the Registration Committee in evaluation of applications for Permits.

A criterion used to approve a Permit to Practice is that the applicant include the name of at least one professional member who is qualified by virtue of his/her training and experience to practise in and accept responsibility for each discipline for which a Permit is being sought. It is a requirement of PEGNL and the Code of Ethics By-Law that a member not practise in areas or disciplines in which the person does not have the necessary academic training and experience.

In order for a Permit to Practice to be granted, the person in responsible charge for each discipline must complete and sign a Personal Profile Form.

Responsible charge is defined as follows:

A “professional member in responsible charge” means a professional member who in the normal day to day work routine of that professional member directly supervises and is responsible for all work performed by a Permit Holder, in the engineering or geoscience discipline of the Permit.

Some members have, through a combination of continuing training and experience, acquired the additional skills needed to practise in an area or discipline other than that for which they were initially trained. The Registration Committee may consider that Permits covering these additional areas or disciplines be issued only upon full substantiation and documentation of the necessary training and experience. The Registration Committee will grant Permits to Practice to firms based on demonstration of current practical experience by the professional member accepting responsibility for the discipline.

It is recognized that overlaps can and do occur between disciplines, and Permit holders are not considered to be practising outside their area or discipline when practising in these areas of overlap.

The following is provided for further interpretation of the meaning and intent of the Regulations regarding Permits to Practice and is used by the PEGNL Registration Committee for approval of applications for Permits to Practice:

Part-time practice is permitted (e.g.. Moonlighting). If the professional member has a commitment to another employer(s) or firm(s), there must be written approval of the arrangement by all the employers.

The professional member in responsible charge must be the sole proprietor, principal or employee of the Permit Holder. In the case of a Joint Venture (J.V.), the person in responsible charge must be either an employee or principal of the J.V. OR an employee or principal of one of the partners of the J.V.

If a contractual joint venture is formed to pursue a project, it is important to determine which of the partners is responsible. If it is more than one, then all parties to the joint venture that are responsible for engineering (or geoscience) must have a Permit to Practice. Further, if the joint venture is a legal entity, then a Permit must be issued under the legal name of the joint venture.

A Permit Holder with multiple offices must have a different professional member in responsible charge at each office where engineering/geoscience services are performed and this member must be resident in the community of that office. A separate Permit would not be required for each office, but it is the obligation of the Permit Holder to list all locations and to provide separate personal profile forms for all professional members in responsible charge at each location.

When a professional member accepts responsibility for more than one Permit or wishes to accept responsibility for a Permit while being an employee of another firm, the person will be asked to provide information to the Registration Committee indicating how s/he will comply with the intent and definition of “in responsible charge”.

In cases where a professional member participates in contract work, (i.e. if there is not an employee/employer relationship between the professional member and the firm for which services are provided), the professional member must hold a Permit to Practice.